Clothes-washing machine having a rockable tub



Feb. 20, 1951 J. F. HORVATH 2,542,523

CLOTI-!ESWASHING MACHINE HAVING A ROCKABLE TUB Filed April 12, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Jahn f. Har Yd? 4 A ORNEYS Feb. 20, 1951 J. F. HORVATH CLOTl-iES-WASHING MACHINE HAVING A ROCKABLE TUB Filed April 12. 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Juhrz F Hurt/am fig A ORNEYS meted Feb. 20, 1951 CLOTHES-WASHING MACHINE HAVING A ROGKABLE TUB John F. Horvath, Milwaukee, Wis.,

Appliance Corporation of America,

assignor to Milwaukee,

Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application April 12, 1946, Serial No. 661,819

4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a laundry machine and more particularly to a novel construction for actuating or operating the tub or fluid container of a domestic laundry machine.

An object of the invention is to provide means for rocking, or reciprocating, a laundry machine tub or fluid container in a vertical plane. The invention is particularly adapted for use with a spherical tub of the type disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 637,964, filed December 29, 1945 (now abandoned), but may be used with laundry machines and tubs of other types and kinds.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel fluid circulation or fluid action in a laundry tub or fluid container.

Further objects will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred forms of the invention wherein;

Fig. 1 is a side view in sect on of a laundry machine embodying the invention but omitting the major part of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3'3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified laundry machine, parts being broken away for the purpose of clarity.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, it is herein shown and wi l here nafter be described in preferred embodiments. It is not intended, however, that the invention is to be limited thereby to the specific constructions disc'osed. 0n the contrary, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling wit-in the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is shown a casing in (which may be circular or rectangular) for a domestic laundry machine which is divided by a partition ll into an upper compartment [2, for the tub or fluid container i3, and a lower compartment H which houses most of the operating mechanism for the tub. The casing is preferably secured to a base memher I 5 and has a cover IS in the central portion of its top.

The tub l3 comprises a lower, substantially hemispherical section I! and an upper, substantially hemispherical section la. The two tub sections l1 and I8 terminate in laterally extending flanges which are attached together by means- 01 a clamping ring IS. The lower section is provided with a pair of ribs 20 and the upper section is provided with a pair of smaller ribs 2|. The lower ribs 20 are preferably of metal but the upper ribs are of a resilient material such as rubber. These ribs are preferably in the same vertical plane. A flexible member or diaphragm 22 i arranged normally to fit against the inner surface of the lower tub section and snugly over the ribs 20. This flexible member is preferably of rubber or other suitable material, and its edge is secured between the flanges on the tube sections l1 and I 8 and is clamped therebetween by the ring IS. The tub is mounted on the top of a shaft 23 secured to a member 24 suitably attached to the center of the lowerv tub section 11. The shaft 23 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 25 in a bearing member 26 secured to the base 21 of the compartment l4.

Means for actuating or moving the tub comprises a motor 28 connected to a speed reducer 29 from which extends a crank shaft 30 on the upper end of which is a crank arm pivotally connected to a link 3|, the free end 32 of which is bifurcated and adapted to be connected with the end of a rod 33 which is freely slidable in a bearing 34 mounted in a bracket 35 which in turn is bolted to the base 21 of the compartment I4. The other end of the rod 33 is secured to a collar 36 surrounding the shaft 23 and containing a flexible ring 31 concentric with the shaft 23 and which may be bonded to both the collar 35 and the shaft 23. The collar 35 has another rod 35 (which may be a continuation of the rod 33) extending from it on the side opposite the main portion of the shaft 33. This rod or rod portion 38 is slidable in a bearing member 40 mounted on a bracket 4i bolted to the base member 21. The outer end of the rod 38 is provided with an enlarged end 42 which is slidable in a cylindrical housing at the end of the bearing member 40. Springs 43 and 44 in this housing are positioned on each side of the rod portion 42 to cushion the force of the rod 33-38 at the end of each stroke.

The shaft 23 extends through a central opening 45 in the partition ll separating the housings l2 and I4 and a flexible seal or diaphragm 46 of rubber or other liquid-proof material is connected to the member 24 on the tub and to the partition ll so as to prevent fluid leaking from the compartment l2 around the shaft while permitting sidewise movement of the shaft in the opening.

The top of the tub I3 is provided with a central opening adapted to register with the opening in the top of the casing. A perforated door or cover 41 movably mounted in the interior of the tub and conforming to the shape of the tub is provided to close this opening. Means are provided for introducing water or other cleaning or rinsing fluid into the upper portion of the tub. As shown herein, these means comprise an arouate pipe 48 suitably secured to the top of the tub and communicating with the interior of the tub through a plurality of openings therein, the pipe 48 being connected to another pipe 49 which in turn is attached to an end of a flexible hose 50, the other end of which is connected to a pipe 5I extending through the partition and leading to a suitable source of fluid supply (not shown).

The bottom of the container or tub section I1 is provided with a fitting 52 communicating with the interior of the tub below the diaphragm 22 and connected to a flexible hose section 53 in turn connected to a pipe 54 extending through the partition II and leading to a suitable source of fluid supply. This fluid is for forcing the diaphragm against the top of this tub to extract or discharge cleaning fluid therefrom. The partition II is also provided with a drain opening 55 in which is secured a fitting 56 which communicates with a drain pipe 51.

The alternate construction in Fig. 4 provides a laundry machine in which the casing door is in the front of the tub rather than in its top. This casing opening is adapted to register with an opening in the front of the tub for permitting loading and unloading of the tub with material to be cleaned.

In this construction, the casing I is rectangular in cross section and is mounted on a base IN. The front panel I02 of the casing extends about two-thirds of its height and is connected by a sloping panel I03 to the top I04. In the center of the panel I03 is hingedly mounted a door I05 which may be provided with a transparent portion I06. The upper tub section I01 is provided with a circular opening I08 which is surrounded by an upstanding lip and adapted to be closed by an imperforate door I09 movably mounted in the interior of the tub and on which is mounted a suitable handle H0. The central portion of the top of the tub section I01 is provided with a plurality of perforations II I to permit extraction of the wash and rinse fluids therethrough.

The operating mechanism is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the rods 33 and 38 being mounted in a plane parallel with the plane of the front panel I02. The operation of the laundry machine for cleaning the clothes and extracting and rinsing the cleaning fluids therefrom is disclosed in my aforesaid copending application Serial No. 637,964, and reference is made to it for a, full disclosure of said operations. In that application, the tub and its shaft are oscillated, whereas in the present application the shaft 23 and tub I3 are rocked back and forth in a vertical plane by the rod 33 and about an axis eccentric of the hub horizontal axis. The ribs 20 and III on the tub, being in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of the tub, will cause the cleaning fluid and materials in the tub to be tossed and violently agitated in the tub upon the termination of each movement of the tub shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The rubber ring 31 will absorb much of the shock occurring from the reversal of movement of the tub.

In order to bring the openings in the tub and casing in alignment for loading and unloading the tub, the operator intermittently starts and stops the motor by pushing the push buttcn 50 in the control circuit to the motor and the tub inches along until the opening in the tub is below the casing opening.

I claim:

l. A laundry machine having in combination a casing provided with an upper tub compartment, a lower operating mechanism compartment and a leak-proof partition separating the compartments, said partition having a central opening, a tub for cleaning fluid and material to be cleaned in said upper compartment, said tub having discharge openings in its central top portion, an agitating rib in the tub extending in a vertical plane below said discharge openings and a flexible diaphragm having a. portion snugly overlying said rib and adapted to be forced upwardly to extract fluid from said tub through said discharge openings, a shaft pivotally mounted in said lower compartment and extending through said partition opening into said upper compartment, the tub being mounted on the upper end of the shaft, power means for rocking said shaft and tub in a plane at right angles to the plane of said rib, and means for enabling the shaft to rockably swing in the partition opening and at the same time seal the partition opening against passage of water therethrough.

2. A laundry machine having in combination a casing provided with an upper tub compartment, a lower operating mechanism compartment and a leak-proof partition separating the compartments, said partition having a central opening, a tub for cleaning fluid and material to be cleaned in said upper compartment, said tub having discharge openings in its central top portion, an agitating rib in the tub extending in a vertical plane below said discharge openings and a flexible diaphragm having a portion snugly overlying said rib and adapted to be forced upwardly to discharge fluid from said tub through said discharge openings. a shaft pivotally mounted in said lower compartment and extending through said partition opening into said upper compartment, the tub being mounted on the upper end of the shaft, power means in said lower compartment for oscillating the shaft and tub in a plane at right angles to the plane of said rib, and a flexible seal between said shaft and said partition permitting movement of the shaft in the partition opening but preventing leakage through the partition opening.

3. A laundry machine having in combination a casing provided with an upper tub compartment, a lower operating mechanism compartment and a leak-proof partition separating the compartments, said partition having a central opening. a tub for cleaning fluid and material to be cleaned in said upper compartment, said tub having discharge openings in its central top portion, an agitating rib in the tub extending across the tub bottom and up its sides in a vertical plane below said discharge openings and a flexible diaphragm having a portion snugly overlying said rib and adapted to be forced upwardly to discharge fluid from the tub through said discharge openings, a shaft pivotally mounted in said lower compartment and extending through said partition opening into said upper compartment, the tub being mounted on the upper end of the shaft, power means, a rod reciprocated thereby, a collar on said rod and through which said tub shaft extends, and a flexible ring bonded to said collar and to said tub shaft. whereby to rock the shaft 8 and tub in a plane at right angles to the plane of said rib.

4. A laundry machine comprising a casing having a tub compartment, an operating oompartment therebelow and a partition separating 5 said compartments and having a central openin: a shaft rockably mounted in said second compartment and extending through the openin; in said partition to the first compartment, a tub in said first compartment and mounted on said shaft. and means for rocking the shaft including power means, and a rod reciprocated thereby and having a collar with a resilient ring bonded thereto and to the tub shaft, said rins being yieldable laterally of said shaft for absorbin: shock during reversal oi movement or the tub.

JOHN F. HORVA'I'H.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the me 01' this patent:

1,722,767 1.754510 2,03 30? zsa'm'zo Number 

